1954 FIFA World Cup qualification

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A total of 45 teams entered the 1954 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds, competing for a total of
16 spots in the final tournament.  Switzerland, as the hosts, and  Uruguay, as the defending
champions, qualified automatically, leaving 14 spots open for competition.

FIFA rejected the entries of  Iceland,  Bolivia,  Costa Rica,  Cuba, South Vietnam and
 India. The remaining 37 teams were divided into 13 groups, based on geographical considerations,
as follows:

 Groups 1 to 10 - Europe: 11 places, contested by 27 teams (including Egypt and Israel).

 Group 11 - South America: 1 place, contested by 4 teams.
 Group 12 - North, Central America and Caribbean: 1 place, contested by 3 teams.
 Group 13 - Asia: 1 place, contested by 3 teams.

A total of 33 teams played at least one qualifying match. A total of 57 qualifying matches were played,
and 208 goals were scored (an average of 3.65 per match).

Listed below are the dates and results of the qualification rounds.

[edit] Groups
The 13 groups had different rules, as follows:

 Groups 1, 2, 4, 8 and 10 had 3 teams each. The teams would play against each other on
a home-and-away basis. The group winners would qualify.
 Group 3 had 4 teams. The teams would play against each other once. The group winner
and runner-up would qualify.
 Groups 5, 6, 7 and 9 had 2 teams each. The teams would play against each other on a
home-and-away basis. The group winners would qualify.
 Group 11 had 4 teams. The teams would play against each other on a home-and-away
basis. The group winner would qualify.
 Group 12 had 3 teams. The teams would play against each other twice. The group winner
would qualify.
 Group 13 had 3 teams. After Taiwan withdrew before the matches began, the remaining 2
teams would play against each other twice. The group winner would qualify.

[edit] Group 1

June 24, 1953, Oslo, Norway -  Norway 2 - 3 Saar

August 19, 1953, Oslo, Norway -  Norway 1 - 1  West Germany

October 11, 1953, Stuttgart, West Germany -  West Germany 3 - 0 Saar
November 8, 1953, Saarbrücken, Saar - Saar 0 - 0  Norway

November 22, 1953, Hamburg, West Germany -  West Germany 5 - 1  Norway

March 28, 1954, Saarbrücken, Saar - Saar 1 - 3  West Germany

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA

1  West Germany 7 4 3 1 0 12 3

2 Saar 3 4 1 1 2 4 8

3  Norway 2 4 0 2 2 4 9

West Germany qualified.

[edit] Group 2

May 25, 1953, Helsinki, Finland -  Finland 2 - 4  Belgium

May 28, 1953, Stockholm, Sweden -  Sweden 2 - 3  Belgium

August 5, 1953, Helsinki, Finland -  Finland 3 - 3  Sweden

August 16, 1953, Stockholm, Sweden -  Sweden 4 - 0  Finland

September 23, 1953, Brussels, Belgium -  Belgium 2 - 2  Finland

October 8, 1953, Brussels, Belgium -  Belgium 2 - 0  Sweden

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA

1  Belgium 7 4 3 1 0 11 6

2  Sweden 3 4 1 1 2 9 8

3  Finland 2 4 0 2 2 7 13

Belgium qualified.
[edit] Group 3

This group was also the 1953-1954 British Home Championship.

October 3, 1953, Belfast, Northern Ireland -  Northern Ireland 1 - 3  Scotland

October 10, 1953, Cardiff, Wales -  Wales 1 - 4  England

November 4, 1953, Glasgow, Scotland -  Scotland 3 - 3  Wales

November 11, 1953, Liverpool, England -  England 3 - 1  Northern Ireland

March 31, 1954, Wrexham, Wales -  Wales 1 - 2  Northern Ireland

April 3, 1954, Glasgow, Scotland -  Scotland 2 - 4  England

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA

1  England 6 3 3 0 0 11 4

2  Scotland 3 3 1 1 1 8 8

3  Northern Ireland 2 3 1 0 2 4 7

4  Wales 1 3 0 1 2 5 9

England and Scotland qualified.

[edit] Group 4

September 20, 1953, Luxembourg, Luxembourg -  Luxembourg 1 - 6  France

October 4, 1953, Dublin, Ireland - Republic of Ireland 3 - 5  France

October 28, 1953, Dublin, Ireland - Republic of Ireland 4 - 0  Luxembourg

November 25, 1953, Paris, France -  France 1 - 0 Republic of Ireland

December 27, 1953, Paris, France -  France 8 - 0  Luxembourg

March 7, 1954, Luxembourg, Luxembourg -  Luxembourg 0 - 1 Republic of Ireland

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA

1  France 8 4 4 0 0 20 4

2 Republic of Ireland 4 4 2 0 2 8 6

3  Luxembourg 0 4 0 0 4 1 19

France qualified.

[edit] Group 5

September 27, 1953, Vienna, Austria -  Austria 9 - 1  Portugal

November 29, 1953, Lisbon, Portugal -  Portugal 0 - 0  Austria

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA

1  Austria 3 2 1 1 0 9 1

2  Portugal 1 2 0 1 1 1 9

Austria qualified.

[edit] Group 6

January 6, 1954, Madrid, Spain - Spain 4 - 1  Turkey

March 14, 1954, Istanbul, Turkey -  Turkey 1 - 0 Spain

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA

1= Spain 2 2 1 0 1 4 2

1=  Turkey 2 2 1 0 1 2 4
Spain and Turkey finished level on points, and a play-off on neutral ground was played to decide who
would qualify.

March 17, 1954, Rome, Italy -  Turkey 2 - 2 Spain

Turkey qualified after drawing of lots.

[edit] Group 7

 Poland withdrew, so Hungary qualified automatically.

[edit] Group 8

June 14, 1953, Prague, Czechoslovakia -  Czechoslovakia 2 - 0 Romania

June 28, 1953, Bucharest, Romania - Romania 3 - 1 Bulgaria

September 6, 1953, Sofia, Bulgaria - Bulgaria 1 - 2  Czechoslovakia

October 11, 1953, Sofia, Bulgaria - Bulgaria 1 - 2 Romania

October 25, 1953, Bucharest, Romania - Romania 0 - 1  Czechoslovakia

November 8, 1953, Prague, Czechoslovakia -  Czechoslovakia 0 - 0 Bulgaria

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA

1  Czechoslovakia 7 4 3 1 0 5 1

2 Romania 4 4 2 0 2 5 5

3 Bulgaria 1 4 0 1 3 3 7

Czechoslovakia qualified.

[edit] Group 9

November 13, 1953, Cairo, Egypt - Egypt 1 - 2  Italy

January 24, 1954, Milan, Italy -  Italy 5 - 1 Egypt

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA

 1  Italy 4 2 2 0 0 7 2

2 Egypt 0 2 0 0 2 2 7

Italy qualified.

[edit] Group 10

May 9, 1953, Belgrade, Yugoslavia -  Yugoslavia 1 - 0 Greece

November 1, 1953, Athens, Greece - Greece 1 - 0  Israel

November 8, 1953, Skopje, Yugoslavia -  Yugoslavia 1 - 0  Israel

March 7, 1954, Ramat Gan, Israel -  Israel 0 - 2 Greece

March 21, 1954, Ramat Gan, Israel -  Israel 0 - 1  Yugoslavia

March 28, 1954, Athens, Greece - Greece 0 - 1  Yugoslavia

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA

1  Yugoslavia 8 4 4 0 0 4 0

2 Greece 4 4 2 0 2 3 2

3  Israel 0 4 0 0 4 0 5

Yugoslavia qualified.

[edit] Group 11

 Peru withdrew.

February 14, 1954, Asunción, Paraguay -  Paraguay 4 - 0  Chile

February 21, 1954, Santiago, Chile -  Chile 1 - 3  Paraguay

February 28, 1954, Santiago, Chile -  Chile 0 - 2  Brazil

March 7, 1954, Asunción, Paraguay -  Paraguay 0 - 1  Brazil

March 14, 1954, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil -  Brazil 1 - 0  Chile

March 21, 1954, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil -  Brazil 4 - 1  Paraguay

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA

1  Brazil 8 4 4 0 0 8 1

2  Paraguay 4 4 2 0 2 8 6

3  Chile 0 4 0 0 4 1 10

Brazil qualified.

[edit] Group 12

USA played all their matches away.

July 19, 1953, Mexico City, Mexico - Mexico 8 - 0  Haiti

December 27, 1953, Port au Prince, Haiti -  Haiti 0 - 4 Mexico

January 10, 1954, Mexico City, Mexico - Mexico 4 - 0 USA

January 14, 1954, Mexico City, Mexico - Mexico 3 - 1 USA

April 3, 1954, Port au Prince, Haiti -  Haiti 2 - 3 USA

April 4, 1954, Port au Prince, Haiti -  Haiti 0 - 3 USA

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA

1 Mexico 8 4 4 0 0 19 1

2 USA 4 4 2 0 2 7 9

3  Haiti 0 4 0 0 4 2 18

Mexico qualified.
[edit] Group 13

Republic of China withdrew.

March 7, 1954, Tokyo, Japan -  Japan 1 - 5 Korea Republic

March 14, 1954, Tokyo, Japan -  Japan 2 - 2 Korea Republic

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA

1 Korea Republic 3 2 1 1 0 7 3

2  Japan 1 2 0 1 1 3 7

Korea Republic qualified.

[edit] Qualified teams

Qualifying countries

Finals Last
Team Streak
Appearance Appearance

 Austria 2nd 1 1934

 Belgium 4th 1 1938

 Brazil 5th 5 1950

 Czechoslovakia 3rd 1 1938

  England 2nd 2 1950

 France 4th 1 1938

Hungary 3rd 1 1938

 Italy 4th 4 1950

Korea Republic 1st 1 -

Mexico 3rd 2 1950

 Scotland 1st 1 -

 Switzerland (h) 4th 4 1950

 Turkey 1st 1 -

 Uruguay (c) 3rd 2 1950

 West Germany 3rd(1) 1 1938(1)

 Yugoslavia 3rd 2 1950

(h) - qualified automatically as hosts

(c) - qualified automatically as defending champions

1
Includes 2 appearances by DFB representing pre-division Germany. This is their 1st appearance
as West Germany.

[edit] Notes
 Turkey is the only team to gain a place in the World Cup through the drawing of lots, over
Spain after failing to decide which team was the winner of Group 6 after three matches.
 For the first time, qualification matches were actually played in South America, since in all
previous World Cups, the South American teams all qualified automatically due to
withdrawals.
 As the French-occupied Saar protectorate became part of the Federal Republic of Germany
only in 1957, the Saarland entered their only World Cup competition and actually had to
play West Germany in the qualifiers.